Man United sent warning over Sir Jim Ratcliffe as Nice captain hits out at billionaire

The 70-year-old's company INEOS took over the Ligue 1 outfit in 2019, and he has now set his sights on taking control of his beloved Red Devils.

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Ratcliffe, who is the United Kingdom's second richest person with a reported net worth of £29.688billion, is believed to be the leading contender to buy United.

He is battling with Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, with Ratcliffe's offer understood to be more appealing to brothers Avram and Joel Glazer.

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And while United fans may rejoice at a potential change of ownership, Nice's poor season may give the Premier League club's supporters food for thought.

The French side currently sit in ninth spot with two games to play this term.

Brazilian veteran Dante has hit out at Ratcliffe, telling L'Equipe: "I think at some point you have to be clear in what you're saying.

"To maintain a project, maybe you need to speak less about objectives and work in silence to create an environment of competitors.

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"Because the expectation is even bigger, and then after, people are frustrated.

"The best thing to do is to prepare as quickly as possible for next season in order to start it well."

Former boss Lucien Favre was backed in the transfer window last summer as Ratcliffe aimed to close the gap on reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.

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Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley and Kasper Schmeichel were all signed, along with Alexis Beka Beka, Rares Ilie and Matia Viti.

And Dante has stressed that Ratcliffe's unrealistic expectations of the squad have played a part in the club's slide down the table this term.

He said: "Do you remember how many players came in at the end of the transfer window last summer?

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"Six left, six arrived. It's difficult in these conditions. Simply, we mustn't make the same errors.

"If someone wants my opinion, the earlier we organise ourselves, the better it will be. If we want to aim higher, we have to anticipate things and put the values of the organisation in place.

"When the coach [Lucien Favre] arrived, we said in two years that we would always be in the Champions League. It doesn't work like that. Ligue 1 is very difficult.

"We lost ten players, ten arrived. The teams in the semi-finals of big competitions play together for three, four years. We changed everything last summer.

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"There is a lack of coherence somewhere. I am sorry to say that."